This idea of mason jar salads is not new, I am well aware of that! I remember when I first started looking around on Pinterest and stumbled across pins upon pins of salads in mason jars. I thought it sounded like a good idea (and they are super cool looking!), and I made a few occasionally, but I never really took to them until now. They have become my go-to lunch lately and I cannot begin to tell you just how amazing they are.
Probably my favorite part about these salads is that you only need one container for the entire thing. When I used to bring salads to lunch, I ended up bringing a ton of little containers that were a hassle and a lot of clean up when I got home. Now I just throw it all in a mason jar (which I have an abnormal abundance of…) and I’m good to go. When it’s time for lunch, I dump the entire jar onto palate and voila! My salad is ready.
Another thing I like is that you can prep these ahead of time and just grab and go for your lunch. Since you separate the wet ingredients from the lettuce/greens, it doesn’t wilt and stays fresh for days. And you can use any combination of ingredients as long as you follow my two rules of thumb: 1. separate the wet ingredients from the greens and 2. wait until the ingredients are all room temperature or chilled before placing in the jar. If you do those two simple things, you’ll have a rockstar salad every time. 
Now I have to admit, I’m a freak when it comes to salads. I am one of the few people who is not a huge fan of dressing, and I eat a dry salad more times than not. In my mind, a little goes a LONG way. So instead of using dressing, I like to use juicy toppings that add moisture to the salad and lots of flavor, like tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, salsa (which can be considered a “dressing” if you want), and so on. When I do use dressing, it’s the very first layer of the jar, so it doesn’t soak into the lettuce and make it soggy.
Now it’s your turn! What kind of salad combo are you going to use?
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